Article: MIN 8, TOR 0: Perez Impresses, Bats Bounce Stroman Early

[Cap'n Piranha]

Very nice win, especially against the team that put us on the only truly disheartening series of the year thus far.

 

Having not pitched since Thursday, and only needing 8 pitches to get through the 8th, I would have liked to see Harper just finish the game.  The pen is fully rested, so not a huge deal here, but doing things like that to give yourselves more rested options is something Baldelli needs to learn to do in the future.

 

Dan Gladden's adherence to old-school smallball tactics is grating.  Before Castro's RBI groundout last night, Gladden stated the goal should be, with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs, to hit a ground ball to the right side.  When Castro did that, he called it "perfect".

[Cap'n Piranha]

 

Houston's lineup is great, and Toronto's offense is aldo very good. He is throwing very well right now.

 

Houston is definitely a good offense, but Toronto is 26th in wRC+ and 27th in OPS.

[nicksaviking]

 

It’s probably time to admit we were wrong, the front office was right.

This isn’t luck, this is change of approach. He’s throwing his fastball 2mph faster, basically ditched the slider, and added a cutter. Perez is a different guy now.

 

 

What's this "we" stuff?!? I finally got one! 

 

I’ll be the lone wolf on this one. I don’t like Martin Perez as we know him, but he is dang near a Kyle Gibson clone. A once top prospect with a boatload of pitches, good velocity but a deluded reliance on his sinker which likely caused his uneven career results.

If someone can talk sense into him and point at Gibson as the reason to be smarter about his pitches, maybe he can finally realize his potential.

Zero leash though, if he still stubbornly uses his sinker in spring training like he always has I don’t want him in the rotation to start the year.

 

[puckstopper1]

 

Meh, I'll definitely take the production but facing Baltimore and Toronto 3/4 games isn't enough to change what I thought and continue to think of the signing. 

 

Way to poke the bear, Kirby!  Your comment stirred up the masses as anticipated!

 

Nonetheless, Perez is 5-0 and pitching lights out.  What a terrific bonus!

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Wow. I'm stunned Perez has turned into this after such a poor 2018 campaign... my opinion on the Perez signing has aged as well as a ham sandwich.

me too. I’m still waiting for hitters to figure out the cutter, but I’m way more optimistic on Perez now, than I was 2 months ago. Of course two months ago I was pretty certain Perez’s arm was going fall off.

[twins1095]

 

me too. I’m still waiting for hitters to figure out the cutter, but I’m way more optimistic on Perez now, than I was 2 months ago. Of course two months ago I was pretty certain Perez’s arm was going fall off.

 

I like the combination of the 94-96 4 seam high, an 88-90 mph cutter with some run and downward action, and an 85-86 mph changeup with some downward and run action.  

 

3 different pitch speeds/movements all thrown out of the same arm angle.   If he can locate that and then mix in the curve as well to keep hitters honest...that's pretty dangerous and repeatable.

 

[KirbyDome89]

 

So the Houston game means nothing? The process and results are the same.

It doesn't mean nothing, but it certainly isn't going to change my mind about the 200+ innings he posted the previous two seasons. I still put more stock in those results rather than 8 innings in a single game during April. Like I said, enjoy the early production; the Twins don't have to give it back, but I'm nowhere near proclaiming Perez is a changed man. 

[KirbyDome89]

 

He has legitimately pitched extremely well, no matter who he faced. This isn't Alabama vs Slippery Rock. This is the major leagues. 

I haven't knocked the production.

[KirbyDome89]

 

It’s probably time to admit we were wrong, the front office was right.

This isn’t luck, this is change of approach. He’s throwing his fastball 2mph faster, basically ditched the slider, and added a cutter. Perez is a different guy now.

He’s likely not THIS good but he could be quite good going forward.

On top of helping fix Perez, this front office deserves extra kudos for having such faith in their ability to improve him that they added a second option year to the deal.

After another month+ of this I might be right there with you. 

 

I've never said he's been lucky, or that he hasn't made adjustments. Perez started the year in the pen and the results weren't great. Since moving to the rotation he's been lights out in 5 starts, 4 of which have come against Baltimore and Toronto. I'm happy with what he's been so far, but 40 IPs, the bulk of which are against bad lineups, is way too little to feel comfortable penciling him in as a solid arm for the rest of the season.

[jkcarew]

 

I'm happy with what he's been so far, but 40 IPs, the bulk of which are against bad lineups, is way too little to feel comfortable penciling him in as a solid arm for the rest of the season.

I'm fine with that . But like I posted earlier...I knew Perez would get chances to start against a weak team (or three...our division is full of them)...but I still never expected to see results that good in terms of being in control, avoiding hard contact, getting deep into the game, getting K's, etc. I'm in Brock's "he's probably not THIS good...but it looks like he's legitimately/materially better than the old Perez" camp.

[Dman]

 

What's this "we" stuff?!? I finally got one! 

 

I wasn't quite as on board as you were but I was willing to give the FO some credit when I said 

 

"I wasn't a fan of the Anibel Sanchez signing last year and he did well with the Braves. I ranted and raved about how horrible that move was. Hopefully they identified something here as well(with Perez). Can't say I am excited but hope this works out for my favorite team."

 

I would say my initial reaction was better than after I first saw him play for us. I did lose faith after his spring training performance and he didn't help me see his potential when he needed like 70 pitches to go three innings in relief early in the year.  I was waiting for him to implode not take off.

 

I am very surprised at how well he is doing and I hope he keeps it up.

 

[SomeGuy]

Jason Castro is making some hard contact so far, he ranks 2nd on the team in exit velocity, 1st in barrel%, and 3rd in Launch Angle. This leaves him with an xSLG of .656 and xWOBA of .438 both 1st on team. His OPS of .965 is also ranked 4th.

 

As a team, our catchers rank 2nd in MLB in average, 3rd in OBP, 2nd in SLG, and 2nd in OPS.

[Dman]

 

Jason Castro is making some hard contact so far, he ranks 2nd on the team in exit velocity, 1st in barrel%, and 3rd in Launch Angle. This leaves him with an xSLG of .656 and xWOBA of .438 both 1st on team. His OPS of .965 is also ranked 4th.

 

As a team, our catchers rank 2nd in MLB in average, 3rd in OBP, 2nd in SLG, and 2nd in OPS.

 

Who needs Realmuto when you have a platoon of Garver, Castro and La Tortuga.